Notes

1] fender: "metal frame placed in front of a fire to keep falling coals from rolling out into the room" (OED, "fender," n. 3.a.). Back to Line

10] Elmo's light: natural spherical light or corona fixed to the mast of a ship or another pointed object (here the poppies), named after St. Erasmus, that is, St. Elmo, patron saint of Mediterranean sailors (OED, "St. Elmo"). Back to Line

15] clappers: handheld rattles shaken to scare away birds. Back to Line

16] Biblical Noah, after the great Flood, discovered wine and fell into a naked, drunken sleep in which his sons found him. One of them, Ham, laughed at Noah exposed, but the other two, Shem and Japheth, covered him decorously with a loin cloth. This is the subject of a painting by Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1500-15) at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Besançon, France. Back to Line